Terminology - Understanding the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Obviously, I am not in this short space going to be able to tell you everything there is to know about my church. My purpose here is to explain certain terms, understood by members of the Church, with which you may not be familiar with. If you are interested in finding out more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints itself, I would refer you to this most excellent website. The author has done a remarkable job, much better than anything I could do. Another good source is Mormons.org, or the official Church website. I should also add that the definitions here are my own (or ones I have found in other sources), and are not officially authorized or sanctioned by the Church. I have made every effort at accuracy and consistency, but mistakes, due to my inadequate understanding, may occur.

First, you need to understand that the LDS church is highly organized with a well-defined, hierarchical structure. Everything is broken down by geographical areas, with presiding authorities assigned to oversee the activities of these areas. For purposes of this discussion, I am only going to focus on two of these areas; the "ward", and the "stake". I will add more terms as the need arises.

Ward: A "Ward" can best be described as a "congregation". The congregation consists of all members of the church that live within a certain geographical boundary, known as the "ward boundary". All church members residing within that boundary are members of that ward, and will attend church services together at a specific time. A ward is presided over by a bishop, who is assisted by two counselors.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is perhaps unique in that we time-share our chapels. That is, instead of having multiple services on Sunday, and leaving it up to the individual which service they want to attend, each ward is assigned a different meeting time at the same building. You attend Sacrament service with your ward. For example, a single chapel may service three wards. They may meet at 0800, 1030, and 1500, with the first ward at 0800, the second at 1030, and the third at 1500. This ensures a more-or-less even distribution of people at each service. Each ward is a self-contained unit. There is no one preacher preaching at each service. In fact, there is no "preacher" at all! Another difference with the LDS church is that we are a lay church. We have no paid clergy. Talks are given each Sunday (except fast Sunday) by members of the congregation who are called by the Bishopric beforehand to give a talk on a particular topic. Even the Bishop and his counselors are called to serve from the congregation. (The Bishop is called by the Stake President, and the Bishop then calls his counselors). The entire church is staffed at the Stake and Ward levels by regular people with regular jobs who have been called to perform service for the church. Callings range from Bishop to the person responsible for printing the church bulletin every Sunday. And just so someone doesn't get "stuck" always going to church at 0800 in the morning, the wards rotate their start times at the beginning of each year.

Stake: A larger geographical boundary comprised of multiple wards. A Stake is presided over by a Stake President, who is also assisted by two counselors. (NOTE: This concept of a leader assisted by two counselors is a pattern that repeats itself throughout all leadership positions in the church.)

The Stake I live in is the San Antonio Stake. It is one of four Stakes comprising San Antonio and the surrounding area. It is composed of six wards. The size of a ward is determined by the number of members who live within its ward boundaries. This is pretty much the number of people that will comfortably fit in the Sanctuary hall during Sacrament meeting. When a ward gets too large, a ward "split" occurs. A new ward is formed by readjusting the boundaries of the other existing wards. When a Stake gets to a certain size, the same happens there, with a "Stake split". Since the ward (and Stake) boundaries are determined by the number of members in the area, the geographical size of these entities is not a constant. Some are physically large, and others are quite small, depending on the member "population density".

Family Home Evening: Family Home Evening is a weekly observance of Latter-day Saints for spiritual training and social activity, usually held on Monday evenings. This observance was established in 1915 by the First Presidency of the Church, who wrote: "We advise and urge the inauguration of a 'Home Evening' throughout the Church, at which time fathers and mothers may gather their boys and girls about them in the home and teach them the word of the Lord... This 'Home Evening' should be devoted to prayer, singing hymns, songs, instrumental music, scripture-reading, family topics and specific instruction on the principles of the Gospel, and on the ethical problems of life, as well as the duties and obligation of children to parents, the home, the Church, society, and the Nation".

Between 1915 and the 1960s a large proportion of Church membership shifted from a family-centered rural population to an urban one. This change brought renewed emphasis from the First Presidency on the importance of the family. In 1970, Monday evening was formaly designated as Family Home Evening Churchwide, with no competing ecclesiastical functions to be held. Manuals and guides have been prepared by the Church to assist families in implementing the program.

A typical Family Home Evening might proceed thusly: A parent or older child, whose turn it is to plan the lession, selects a lesson (example: "Heavenly Father Provided Us a Savior") from the Family Home Evening Resource Book. After an opening hymn and prayer, the lesson material, adapted to the needs and interest level of the family members, is presented. After the lesson the family discusses family schedules, family business, and special concerns. A family activity follows that helps strengthen bonds of love among family members. This could be any activity that the family enjoys doing together, such as playing a game, helping the needy, gardening, or attending a cultural event. Following the activity, the family kneels in family prayer and then often enjoys refreshments. Single adults or others who live alone may join in as a group to participate in Family Home Evening activities, or they may observe appropriately modified weekly activities individually. Home evening activities allow for considerable variation in the desires and needs of each family or group. Always however, the emphasis is spiritual enrichment. For more information on the Family Home Evening, see Mormons.org. Some of the material on this topic was excerpted from this source.

Fireside: In general, a church-related meeting in a less-formal setting for the presentation of a particular topic. Typical format would be opening prayer, some hymns, and talks by one or more speakers, discussion, closing prayer, and refreshments. There are many kinds of "firesides"; youth firesides, single adult firesides, etc. Firesides tend to be more interactive. They can be for a single ward, multiple wards, a single stake, or multiple stakes. They can be church-wide, broadcast via satellite. In this case, of course, they are not interactive, but take on the characteristics of FDR's famous "fireside chats".

First Presidency: The First Presidency is the governing body of and highest ranking quorum in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its authority, duties, and responsibilities extend over every person and all matters in the Church. This quorum usually consists of three persons--the president of the Church and two counselors selected by the President. It has happened in the past that a Church president has called more than two counselors to assist him. It could happen again in the future. Members of the First Presidency are not coequal. The authority rests solely with the President. The counselors have a subordinate role, with the first counselor having precedence over the second. In the absence of the President, the counselors preside in meetings with the Council or Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and other General Authorities, and in the conferences of the Church. If the President is ill and unable to carry out all his functions, the counselors may conduct the affairs of the Church under his direction. In such a case the counnselors operate in close consultation with the President of the Council of the Twelve. However, the President of the Church remains the final authority.

The selection of the counselors is the perogative of the President. A new President may or may not choose to retain the counselors of his predecessor. The counselors are usually apostles, but in a few cases men have been called who were not ordained apostles, In some cases, the counselors have been apostles, but not members of the Twelve. The general membership of the Church votes to sustain the First Presidency but does not elect them. Because members of the Church believe that the calling and authority of the First Presidency come from God, their vote is one of common consent, to ratify or oppose a selection that has already been made. For more information on the First Presidency, see Mormons.org. The material on this topic was excerpted from this source.

High Council: The high council is a body of twelve high priests who are called and set apart in each stake to assist and advise the stake presidency under whom they serve. From Mormons.org:

Under the direction of the stake presidency, the high council has important executive, legislative, and judicial powers. Members of stake high council serve as advisers to the stake presidency on any matter about which the presidency might seek counsel, and they carry out specific assignments. For example, a high councilor may have an assignment to represent the stake presidency, to assist in the training of a new ward bishopric, to attend a ward's priesthood executive committee meetings and ward council meetings, or to train and advise ward Melchizedek Priesthood quorum leaders. He may be asked to report regularly to the stake presidency concerning the status of a particular ward. In addition, he may serve as a member of the stake Melchizedek Priesthood committee, which assists the stake presidency in installing, training, and advising Melchizedek Priesthood leaders. Other assignments that are generally given to a member of a high council include membership on the Aaronic Priesthood/Boy Scouting Committee; adviser to the stake young women organization; stake mission president; coordinator of stake welfare programs; coordinator for temple service and family history programs; stake emergency preparedness director, or other such administrative roles. A high councilor will usually also be assigned to speak periodically in ward Sacrament meetings under the direction of the stake presidency.

As part of the stake high council, the presidency presents matters of busines to the council for its approval. Such matters may include endorsing an individual's name for an assignment in the stake organization, recommending a person as a potential ward bishop or counselor in a bishopric, or considering an individual for ordination to an office in the Melchizedek Priesthood. The stake president may also ask for discussion of particular issues and high councilors may be asked to report on the status of their assignments.